Well, we went to the Vermont Quilt Festival yesterday, and had a wonderful time! For once, we got there with enough time to see everything! (They usually have displays in more than one building.) We also had lunch at the festival, and the kids got to play on an empty athletic field, which gave me at least a little time to wander through the quilts alone. I actually spent less than $20 - I bought a spool of Aurifil thread and some needles from one vendor, and two bobbins for my antique treadle sewing machine from another. The rest of the time I spent taking pictures and admiring the quilts.

There was a lot of applique this year. Besides the fabulous contest quilts, there were also several special displays - one of teachers' quilts, one of antique quilts from Vermont, and two (that I know of) that honored specific quiltmakers. One of the special displays, that of work by Judy Roche, was not allowing photographs; that was a shame, because there were some truly exquisite antique applique quilts. (Just in case it's not obvious, I'm a fanatic for applique!)

I did create a Picturetrail album with all of the pictures I took. Regardless, here are two of the most incredible quilts I saw.



This is a quilt by Kathryn Tennyson called Americana Album. The workmanship is exquisite, as are the blocks. The background is gorgeous. Besides the overall picture, I took close-ups of quite a few of the blocks. Those can be found in the Picturetrail album (titled "Vermont Quilt Festival 2005").



This quilt is Earthly Delights by Karen Kay Buckley. Again, I took quite a few close-ups. I have Karen Kay Buckley's Magical Medallions pattern (middle of the page), and it is incredible. Her work overall is incredible, and she has a fantastic color sense. She tends to use colors in long runs (6 to 12 shades of green, for example); it doesn't make it easy to find the fabrics to re-create one of her patterns, however!

This weekend, besides being incredibly hot, is also the Annual Hampton Beach Sand Sculpting Competition. Today is supposed to be the last day - I don't know if that means that it's the last day the sculptors can work, or if the sculptures will be judged at the end of today. Pictures of the 2004 winners are here. Either way, the sculptures are supposed to be left up for a week after the competition is over, so we will hopefully be going to see them tomorrow or Monday, when the beach is not so hot (or so crowded! I hate crowds!).